


Tokyo Owl Cafe

by strawberryriver



Series: Adventures in an Owl Cafe [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bokuto's birthday, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-19 07:02:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8194850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberryriver/pseuds/strawberryriver
Summary: Akaashi was so pleased with his birthday plans. Smug, even. So much so that Kuroo stopped talking to him about it, lest he have to see Akaashi’s grin one more time. Every year Bokuto would gush about the over the top gifts his “best bro” gave him, and every year Kuroo played Akaashi’s jealousy chord like an expert. It had grown to be something of a contest between them, but this year Akaashi would be the absolute winner. 
This year, Akaashi had a reservation at the Tokyo Owl Cafe. 
----------------
My very late fic for Bokuto's birthday! A semi-companion piece to Six A.M.





	

Akaashi was so pleased with his birthday plans. Smug, even. So much so that Kuroo stopped talking to him about it, lest he have to see Akaashi’s grin one more time. Every year Bokuto would gush about the over the top gifts his “best bro” gave him, and every year Kuroo played Akaashi’s jealousy chord like an expert. It had grown to be something of a contest between them, but this year Akaashi would be the absolute winner. 

This year, Akaashi had a reservation at the Tokyo Owl Cafe. 

He almost didn’t believe such a cafe existed, a coworker had forwarded him an article about it and Akaashi had to read it twice to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. He had initially wanted to save the cafe for their anniversary- Bokuto had proposed to him in a zoo, after all -but the thought of Kuroo winning “best birthday present” _again_ was insufferable and Akaashi was petty. Plus, the sooner they went the better the chances of Bokuto not finding out about the cafe first. 

As a safety net for suspicion (and a fail-safe in case, for some reason, Bokuto didn’t like the cafe) Akaashi also purchased gifts. These distracted Bokuto’s attention as they gave Akaashi something to be coy about, and ultimately it didn’t matter if Bokuto peeked (he always did). Bokuto loved surprises, but planning one for him while living with him was nearly impossible. He was impatient, restless, and would work tirelessly to find out what the surprise was, even if a part of him knew it would be more fun to wait. 

In the weeks before Bokuto’s birthday, Akaashi further distracted Bokuto by feigning ignorance, acting as if it were too early to think about Christmas any time Bokuto mentioned gifts. Kissing the whines away was easy, and it kept Bokuto off his trail. Two days before Bokuto’s birthday, he purchased their train tickets and owl themed wrapping paper. The paper was just a reason to run errands and not invite Bokuto, he’d already wrapped most of Bokuto’s gifts. Finally, the day before Bokuto’s birthday, Akaashi used Kuroo has a distraction to pick up Bokuto’s cake, topped with the ugliest owl keychain Kuroo could find (Akaashi thought it looked sweet). 

The morning of Bokuto’s birthday Akaashi was woken up far more early than normal. Not because he was trying to wake up before Bokuto, he’d stopped trying to do that years ago, but because something large and heavy was pressing on him and the discomfort forced his mind into wakefulness. The moment of panic at seeing Bokuto’s face so close to his the second Akaashi opened his eyes helped, too. 

“Good morning, Koutarou.” Akaashi closed his eyes again and let his head fall back onto the pillow. 

“Good morning and…? Hey, Keiji!” Bokuto nudged Akaashi’s cheek with his hand. “It’s already nine!” 

“Happy birthday.” Akaashi said without opening his eyes. Bokuto’s loud whoop was accompanied by the pressure suddenly lifting from Akaashi’s chest and loud footsteps galloping down the hall. Akaashi was almost content to leave it at that and go back to sleep, until he realized the footsteps were coming back, only this time they were attempting to be quiet. His eyes shot open and he caught Bokuto mid-creep towards their bed, a can of whipped cream in his hands; his gold eyes were barely covered by his unstyled hair, pupils blown wide in surprise. 

“Keiji! You really are awake!” Bokuto straightened and tried to hide the can of cream behind his back. 

“Of course I am, you woke me up. Or did you forget?” Akaashi ignored Bokuto’s indignant whine and pulled himself out of bed. Truthfully he had been counting on Bokuto to wake him up in the morning, their reservation was in the early afternoon and if Bokuto had left Akaashi to sleep in like he normally did, they almost certainly would have missed it. Akaashi stepped over to Bokuto and lifted the hand that held the whipped cream to Bokuto’s mouth, spraying some across his lips and cheek. “Let’s go have breakfast.”

Down the hall Akaashi thankfully found the kitchen largely untouched, spared from Bokuto’s backfired whipped cream prank. It wasn’t that Bokuto was a bad cook or intentionally destructive, it was that he knew how to cook approximately three things, and none of them could be considered breakfast. And that Bokuto frequently _tried_ to good breakfast, either as a surprise for Akaashi or a dare from Kuroo. Neither ever ended well.

Akaashi made them a simple breakfast of soup, rice, and fish, and considered his next steps while ignoring Bokuto’s praise and poor table manners. Getting Bokuto out of the house would be easy, but getting him to the train without raising suspicion would not. And he’d need some way to keep Bokuto distracted once they got off, unless…

Scarves. It was a good thing Akaashi got cold easily, because that meant he had scarves. Lots and lots of scarves. 

Akaashi encouraged them both to get dressed, thankful that the snap in the weather didn’t make Bokuto question when he grabbed a scarf. It wasn’t cold enough yet for coats, but the early fall weather could easily justify something light. Leaving their apartment and getting to the train was easy, ask Akaashi suspected. It wasn’t until Bokuto went to get off at their usual stop and Akaashi pulled him back that he had to get creative. 

“Not here, Koutarou. Not yet.” Akaashi looked off to the side, out the subway car window. 

“Where’re we going, Keiji?” Bokuto asked, twining his fingers with Akaashi’s.

“Your birthday surprise.” Akaashi continued looking out the window, painfully aware of the sideways glances Bokuto’s loud gasp gathered. 

“You mean we’re not getting yakiniku?” He sounded both excited and horrified and the corners of Akaashi’s mouth turned upward just slightly. 

“We still can later. But we’re doing something else first. A surprise.” Akaashi tried to disguise his pleased hum as a sigh as he watched Bokuto’s grin from the corner of his eye. 

“But Keiji! You didn't tell me about a surprise!” Bokuto whined, pulling down on Akaashi’s arm. 

“That’s what a surprise is, Koutarou.” Akaashi lost his attempt to hide the smile in his voice and he finally looked back towards the distraught, pouting Bokuto. He pushed forward onto his toes to give the crease between Bokuto’s eyebrows a kiss, smoothing out the wrinkles by his mouth with a thumb. “You’ll like it.” 

“Okay!” Pleased with the affection, Bokuto brightened considerably; standing straighter and grinning wider than he had since he woke up that morning. A surprise from Akaashi was always a good thing, even if he hadn’t had the opportunity to snoop on it before now. 

Bokuto bounced on his heels for the rest of the train ride, pelting Akaashi with questions in an attempt to get more information before they actually arrived. Akaashi expertly dodged them with classic responses like: humming and looking away, giving unhelpful observations about the weather, and making noncommittal grunts. It worked only because Bokuto wasn’t necessarily looking for feedback from Akaashi, but rather providing an outlet for the excited energy that thrummed too much through his body. And Akaashi told him it was impolite to run on trains. 

When the train finally pulled into their stop Akaashi pulled Bokuto off the car and held out his scarf as they paused at the base of the stairs. 

“Please put this over your eyes.” Akaashi pushed the scarf towards Bokuto, who was watching him with furrowed brows. 

“Keiji?” Bokuto slowly took the scarf, flipping it over in his hands and examining the owl pattern closely. “Is this the surprise?” 

“No,” Akaashi sighed, “but I don’t want you seeing the surprise before we’re there. Please blindfold yourself.” 

“So it’s a place?” Bokuto asked, face lighting up at the small clue from Akaashi’s request. Instead of answering Akaashi took the scarf from Bokuto’s hands and tied it around his eyes, knotting it in back to make sure it didn’t fall off. 

“Can you see?” Akaashi asked, waving a hand in front of Bokuto’s face as a test. 

“Nope! So I’ll need to hold on to you, okay Keiji?” Bokuto reached out and grabbed for Akaashi in the air, and Akaashi indulged him by linking their arms. Satisfied with his makeshift blindfold, Akaashi led them both up the steps and out of the station. The cafe wasn’t far from their stop and as they grew closer Akaashi felt his own excitement mounting. He was excited to see the owls in the cafe, of course, but he was more excited to see the look on Bokuto’s face when he took the scarf off. 

By the time they arrived in front of the small, unassuming cafe they were nearly jogging from Akaashi’s own excitement. The abrupt stop made Bokuto stumble and Akaashi caught him, muscles straining as they righted themselves. Bokuto, sensing that the surprise was here, began bouncing on his heels. 

“Keiji, can I take it off?” Bokuto whined, and Akaashi moved so he was standing in front of Bokuto. 

“Now you can.” Akaashi watched as Bokuto lifted the scarf from his eyes and took in the building before him. He etched into memory the way Bokuto’s eyes glowed and his smiled spread painfully from cheek to cheek. Bokuto grabbed Akaashi’s arms and crushed him into a hug, whooping loud enough to gather annoyed looks from people walking across the street. 

“Keiji! Owls! A real! Real owls, real cafe! Keiji!!” Bokuto’s mouth tripped over his thoughts as he tried to form a coherent sentence, unable to reel himself in and make any sense. Akaashi laughed at the nonsense phrases and pulled Bokuto’s cheeks down to give him a kiss. 

“Happy birthday, Koutarou.” Akaashi pulled away from Bokuto’s arms with some regret, but they had a reservation to make and Akaashi hated being late. 

\--------------------------------------

**EXTRA**

“Please hold still, Koutarou. You’re both very blurry.” Akaashi snapped another picture on his phone, brow furrowed at how both Bokuto and the owl perched on his arm seemed impossible to photograph. 

“I can’t help it Keiji! He wants to fly!” Bokuto leaned over Akaashi’s arm to examine the picture. “Try again, like this!” Bokuto posed with one foot on a chair, a hand on his hip, and the arm with the perched owl stretched out and upward in pride. The sudden movement startled the owl and made it readjust, flapping it’s wings in the process and giving Akaashi the absolute perfect shot. He snapped several photos in succession, hoping one of them would turn out right, and smiled smugly to himself. 

“Perfect.” Akaashi twisted his phone around to show Bokuto, who hooted in delight. The owl, tired of Bokuto’s utter inability to stand still, flew back to its roost to preen and enjoy some quiet. 

“Your turn, Keiji. You gotta have one too.” Bokuto flopped back into his chair, scrolling through the many pictures he and Akaashi had already taken. 

“Ah, no. I don’t need a picture, but thank you.” Akaashi ignored Bokuto’s pout as he took his seat at their table, gracefully opening the lid to his tea to avoid eye contact. He didn’t mind taking photos of Bokuto or with Bokuto, but pictures of just himself made him feel self conscious and he did his best to avoid them at all costs. Bokuto, of course, protested this loudly at every chance, but Akaashi refused to waver. To avoid engaging Bokuto in the argument, he instead focused his attention on a small ural owl resting close to them. He leaned close and reached out to gently touch it’s feathers, smiling at the soft hoot it gave in response. 

“Keiji you’re so pretty!” Bokuto’s sudden exclamation and the sound of the camera shutter caused both the owl and Akaashi to whip around in surprised. Bokuto had been too quiet, Akaashi should have known he was planning to take a picture anyway, but as he watched Bokuto make the new picture his lock screen he found it difficult to be upset. Instead he took Bokuto’s hand and leaned across the table to give his temple a kiss. 

“Happy Birthday.”

**Author's Note:**

> come yell at me on my [tumblr](http://strawberryriver.tumblr.com) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/keiji_ebooks)!!
> 
> if you request a pairing/prompt in my ask box i'll probably write it


End file.
